#382 - 20141026 - Damsel does brakes

This is my little gearhead in training as I coach her through replacing brake pads and rotors on her 2006 Hyundai Elantra. Her dream car is a 69 Chevelle 454 SS. She's also quite the talented artist and photographer. The story behind the title...

I got a phone call from my wife and daughter that they had broken down in the commuter lot just off the highway exit they take to get home because the car was making a HORRIBLE screeching noise. I sigh and head out to assess the situation. When I arrive, daughter already had the car jacked up and LR wheel off the car from where the screeching was heard. There's a very cool state trooper there to lend moral support who was very impressed with her knowledge about cars.

We all chatted for a while and then the officer excused himself. Turns out he was the 2nd state trooper to have stopped by that day. The first one was a real ass. When he arrived to find my daughter already in the process of jacking up the car, first words out of his mouth was "Damsels in distress, do you need saving?" WELL! That remark did not go over too well with my daughter who looked him straight in the eye, said "I resent that." and said nothing else. Not one word. Mr. know-it-all then proceeds to tell my daughter she had bad bearings. "Oh yes. That happened to my wife's car. That's definitely what it is." She basically brushed him off. He soon got the message and left.

When I looked at it, I felt the rotor which was still warm and detected a deep groove on the back side. I immediately knew that the brake pad wear indicator was mounted on the wrong side of the caliper, pads had worn, grabbed the indicator and snapped it off between the pad and rotor. Disassembly during repair confirmed my diagnosis.

Hence the title. This is a poke in the eye to anyone, police officers included, who would presume to lump all women into gender stereotypes. The title was actually suggested by the 2nd officer!